Yes, I admit that I cheated on Valentine’s Day.
I bought my daughter, Mary Elizabeth, a book of beautiful poems called Dog Songs by Mary Oliver for a Valentine’s Day present, and I read the entire book before I gave it to her.
This is the poem I liked best.
Percy, Waiting for Ricky
Your friend is coming, I say
To Percy and name a name
And he runs to the door, his
Wide mouth in its laugh-shape,
And waves, since he has one, his tail.
Emerson, I am trying to live,
As you said we must, the examined life.
But there are days I wish
There was less in my head to examine,
Not to speak of the busy heart. How
Would it be to be Percy, I wonder, not
Thinking, not weighing anything, just running forward.
–Joy